The Colorado Avalanche had few struggles during last year’s regular season. They were atop the league in many categories, but one category in which they had difficulties with was the power play. They finished 27th at 17.1% conversion rate. It was by far the most glaring issue the league’s Presidents’ Trophy winner had throughout the regular season.
Naturally, fans were upset about it because, well, the conversion rates were few and far between. Additionally, had they been better, perhaps Colorado would have advanced passed the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
With a new season approaching, the Avalanche are trying to figure out new ways to enhance that phase of their game. On Wednesday, it was reported that Nicolas Roy was inserted into one of the power play units.
Roy isn’t known for being a power play guy. He has just 11 power play goals and 14 power play assists in nine seasons.
In 2025-26, the Avalanche had 45 power play goals, led by Nathan MacKinnon’s team-high of 11.
In February, Mile High Sticking’s Katie Bartlett raised the idea of the Avalanche needing to demote MacKinnon and Cale Makar from the power play. Per Wednesday’s reports, they have yet to do that. The first power play unit consisted of the two, along with Martin Necas, Gabriel Landeskog, and Roy.
The second group consisted of Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri, Artturi Lehkonen, Jaden Schwartz and Devon Toews.
Two main focuses on the power play are the personnel and the movement among each player on either unit. I think that the Avalanche struggled mightely last season because they did not shoot at more opportunities that they were given. Teams were also able to stop some of the simpler offensive plays by Colorado’s power play.
Inserting Roy, who is not a known power play dominator, feels like a stretch when it comes to trying to find success. Even though there is the possibility of it working, Roy hasn’t exactly proved that he will be the answer to the Avalanche’s power play woes.
If the Avalanche cannot find success on the power play, they are going to regret it, in the form of yet another Stanley Cup playoff exit. It’s as simple as that.
Or not.
Add us as a preferred source on Google